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Josep Borrell is an aeronautical engineer from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and Professor of Foundations of Economic Analysis at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. He is one of the most experienced Spanish politicians in positions of high economic and fiscal responsibility with a major European experience and influence. His political career began in 1982 when he became Secretary of Budget and Public Expenditure of the Ministry of Finance in Spain.

Between 1984 and 1991 he was Secretary of the Treasury, urging the creation of a modern tax administration to combat tax fraud and adjust the revenue system and government expenditure for Spain’s entry into the European Union, regional decentralization and the development of the system of social protection.

“The crisis of the Euro is something that was quite likely to happen as the first major recession hit Europe. The Economic and Monetary Union is an incomplete union and therefore fragile.”

Between 1991 and 1996 he was appointed twice the Minister of Public Works, Transport & Environment at the time of the highest increased in investment in infrastructure in the history of Spain. Borrell also has experience in the private sector after working in the Spanish energy sector company Cepsa. His career in European affairs began in 1999 as President of the Congressional Joint Committee on European Affairs Senate.

He was one of the representatives of the Spanish Parliament in the Convention that drafted the European Constitution. Borrell also participated in essential working groups on the EU: economic government, social Europe, foreign policy and defense.

Borrell headed his party ticket in the European elections in 2004 and was elected President of the European Parliament. He also chaired the Euro Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly and fostered the creation of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly of which he was its first co-chair. Between 2007 and 2009, Borrell chaired the Development Assistance Committee of the European Parliament.

In 2010, he was selected for the Presidency of the European University Institute in Florence. This institution is a center for doctoral studies specializing in European integration and the role of Europe in globalization with the largest European program of doctoral studies in social sciences.

“The German unification ended the sad legacy of Hitler and Stalin but we still have much work to do to make it effective. It will test our solidarity and it will demand respect for diverse points of view.”

The EUI Florence is also home of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, which develops applied research on issues such as immigration, energy, financial regulation, monetary policy and political representation, among other topics of EU policy. Borrell has also chaired the Global Progressive Forum and conducted seminars for European Studies at the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo in Santander and Málaga.